More than 200 million people speak French on the five continents. The Francophonie,the international organisation of French-speaking countries, comprises 68 states and governments. French is the second most widely learned foreign language after English, and the ninth most widely spoken language in the world.French is also the only language, alongside English, that is taught in every country in the world. France operates the biggest international network of cultural institutes, which run French-language courses for more than 750,000 learners.

An ability to speak French and English is an advantage on the international job market. A knowledge of French opens the doors of French companies in France and other French-speaking parts of the world (Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, and North and sub-Saharan Africa). As the world’s fifth biggest economy and number-three destination for foreign investment, France is a key economic partner.

French is the international language of cooking, fashion, theatre, the visual arts, dance and architecture. A knowledge of French offers access to great works of literature, as well as films and songs, in the original French. French is the language of Victor Hugo, Molière, Léopold Sendar Senghor, Edith Piaf, Jean-Paul Sartre, Alain Delon and Zinedine Zidane.

France is the world’s number-one tourist destination and attracts more than 70 million visitorsa year. A little French makes it so much more enjoyable to visit Paris and all the regions of France (from the mild climes of the Cote d’Azur to the snow-capped peaks of the Alps via the rugged coastline of Brittany) and offers insights into French culture, mentality and way of life. French also comes in handy when travelling to Africa, Switzerland, Canada, Monaco, the Seychelles and other places.

Speaking French opens up study opportunities at renowned French universities and business schools, ranked among the top higher education institutions in Europe and the world. Students with a good level of French are eligible for French government scholarships to enrol in postgraduate courses in France in any discipline and qualify for internationally recognised French degrees.

French is both a working language and an official language of the United Nations, the European Union, UNESCO, NATO, the International Olympic Committee, the International Red Cross and international courts. French is the language of the three cities where the EU institutions are headquartered: Strasbourg, Brussels and Luxembourg.

After English and German, French is the third most used language on the Internet, ahead of Spanish. An ability to understand French offers an alternative view of the world through communication with French speakers from all the continents and news from the leading French-language international media (TV5, France 24 and Radio France Internationale).

French is an easy language to learn. There are many methods on the market that make learning French enjoyable for children and adults alike. It does not take long to reach a level where you can communicate in French.Learning french language basics for kids and beginner in minimum time.

French is a good base for learning other languages, especially Romance languages (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian) as well as English, since fifty per cent of current English vocabulary is derived from French.

First and foremost, learning French is the pleasure of learning a beautiful, rich, melodious language, often called the language of love. French is also an analytical language that structures thought and develops critical thinking, which is a valuable skill for discussions and negotiations.

Contrary to the English r, the French r is pronounced by moving the tongue to the back of the mouth.

revolution
bonjour
rendez-vous

Pronouncing r the french way, will help you be understood better and not only greatly improve how you sound in French, it will help you be understood better. Sometimes when I felt I was exagerating my French ‘r’, my teacher still thought it sounded good however you can still overdue it.
Vowel Sounds

Shortly after the French presidential election, the French government announced that the development of Paris as an international financial center was a high priority on its agenda.

At a time when more and more issuers, in particular issuers from emerging countries, are considering going public, and more and more issuers
look for alternatives to U.S. capital markets, the French government considers that time is of the essence to improve Paris’ competitive
situation, especially as it compares to London, which currently is by far the most attractive financial center in Europe.

Any success in this area will be linked to the government’s ability to open the French financial markets to foreign issuers, investors and
professionals. Accordingly, several reforms are being considered, including lowering the remuneration ‐ based taxation at banks and other
financial institutions and the stock ‐ exchange tax (impôt de bourse), in an effort to facilitate the immigration of highly qualified financial
specialists,etc

Hand out a worksheet with the sentences to be translated and an introduction such as “Please understand that using an online translator is, in my eyes, tantamount to cheating. I would certainly rather you write to me five sentences that you translated than a hundred sentences that a computer program translated for you.”

Instructions for students

Open a blank document in Microsoft Word. In the header please put your first and last name and the date (in French).

Type the following sentences into Microsoft Word, making sure that you insert all of the accents (see accent lesson).

Find an online translator. Copy a sentence into it and have it translate the passage from French to English.

Skip two lines and paste the resulting translation into Word. At the end type the name of the translation service that you used.

Read through the translation, underlining the errors and oddities that come from an online translator.

Skip a line and type a paragraph that explains why you think it would obvious to your teacher if you used an online translator for a homework assignment.

After your paragraph, skip two more lines and type the following:

“I understand (name of teacher)’s policy on online translators. I agree that I will not use an online translator for assignments in his/her class, without his/her prior knowledge and consent. By signing below I acknowledge that if I use a translator on my assignments that I will be dealt with according to (name of school)’s policy on cheating.”

At the end of that please skip five lines and type your name and the date. Please print out this assignment, sign above your name, and return to your French teacher.